RASP Synonyms: 168 Similar and Opposite Words

rasp 1 of 2

noun

Definition of rasp

as in scratch

a harsh grating sound the rusted lock opened with a rasp

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rasp

2 of 2

verb

ˈrasp

as in to rub

to make smooth by friction after sawing the board in half, rasp the ends to remove any splinters

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to scratch

to pass roughly and noisily over or against a surface the sound of fingernails rasping on the blackboard makes me cringe

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as in to annoy

to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts the two siblings seemed intent on rasping each other for the entire car trip

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to wear

to damage or diminish by continued friction during the last ice age, glaciers rasped the surface, leaving the deeply scarred rock

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of rasp

Noun

Deep and smoky with impressive control and just a touch of Etta James rasp, Spiro’s is a voice not so much influenced by jazz legends like Winehouse or Nina Simone but rather a direct descendant. — Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 11 Mar. 2026 Hines and Pidgeon give the woman a choreography, the dramatic toss of the hair, the hips gone concave, the Marlboro rasp in her voice. — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2026

Verb

When the beetle takes flight, the woman, who is busy unpacking, doesn’t realize for a moment that there’s something out of place about that rasping ruckus, that foreign hum. — María Ospina, The Dial, 31 Mar. 2026 Thrips have rasping, sucking mouthparts. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 3 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for rasp

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rasp

Noun

The disease, which spreads through bites and scratches from infected animals, is most commonly carried by bats, foxes, raccoons and skunks.

— Gagandeep Singh, Sacbee.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Henri Jokiharju The right-shot defenseman, who is entering the second season of a three-year, $9 million contract, served as a healthy scratch for four of the Bruins’ six playoff games against the Sabres.

— Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of scratch

Verb

One juror was rubbing his eyes as Sullivan talked, and another was clasping and unclasping his hands in his lap.

— Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2026
Danger, Olivo, and Mosco had just eaten by the gazebo and Damaris was rubbing her pup’s head goodnight, about to go into the shack.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of rub

Verb

Language models now write clean, fluent messages and can personalize them at scale using details scraped from social media.

— Pawan Jain, The Conversation, 14 Sep. 2026
The clip was an instant hit, reposted and reacted to and viewed and scraped so many times in addition to its original 7 million views on TikTok that its final reach is almost impossible to calculate.

— CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of scrape

Verb

Irwin is uncertain if the second infestation of bed bugs last weekend were ones that weren’t caught the first time, or if a person brought new bed bugs in.

— Susan Bromley, Freep.com, 14 Aug. 2026
Not too much bugs him, but he sometimes is annoyed by his baby sister and doesn’t trust people who put pineapple on their pizza.

— Pioneer Press, Twin Cities, 10 Aug. 2026